


I Walk the Line

by Gabna43



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, F/F, Heavy Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:49:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22763509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gabna43/pseuds/Gabna43
Summary: Someone within the Time Bureau sets a plan in motion that is designed to destroy Ava and Sara's relationship.Story not canon. Set soon after 4.7 [Hell no, Dolly].Includes original, non-canon characters.What if Neron tried to separate them using a different strategy, one not involving the Kaupe?
Relationships: Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe
Comments: 10
Kudos: 142





	1. Chapter 1

Ava didn’t like feeling unsure about anything, much less her relationship with Sara.

One of her biggest challenges was the jealously that sometimes crept in. Sara was a beautiful, desirable woman who could have anyone.

Ava was not proud of feeling jealous. It was not an emotion she had experienced often because she previously had not been with anyone long enough or experienced deep enough emotions that she would have been devastated had that person strayed. If the person she was with wanted to be with someone else, wanted to leave her, then she’d rather them just tell her and go be with that someone else, no harm, no foul.

Her relationship with Sara was very, **very** different in that regard, and Ava didn’t really know how to handle it. She was embarrassed to discuss these feelings with her girlfriend because she didn’t want to come across as insecure or as not trusting Sara.

The longer she and Sara were together, the harder it became because these doubts were sometimes overwhelming, especially when she and Sara had to be apart for weeks at a time because of the captain’s responsibilities.

Ava knew that she was being unfair, but it was difficult to believe that Sara was a one-woman, woman. Before they were together, she had read Sara’s file, which was, unfortunately, quite detailed it its descriptions of Sara’s one-night stands and sexual exploits, even in the middle of a mission.

And even if she were a one-woman, woman, Ava could not really believe that she could be that woman.

While they were similar in many ways, she was waiting for Sara to become bored with her. She was a strait-laced, type A, nerdy, workaholic. Sara was…. _not_. Any of those things.

Ava was a perfectionist that demanded too much of herself and of everyone around her. And she did not think on her feet or outside of the box very well. The rules and regulations steadied her world, even when she had learned she was a clone.

She knew what she was supposed to do, how she was supposed to act, who she was supposed to be as an agent, as the Director.

Sara was her one wild card, and, _man_ , was she a doozy of a wild card.

Ava had never felt so ridiculously out of control yet so perfectly safe as when she was with her lover. Sara left her breathless and spinning, ready to run away with just the crook of the captain’s finger.

The first time she had ever disobeyed a bureau order had been to go back to Vinland to help Sara. When Bennet had yelled at her and threatened to suspend her over the decision, Ava had never been happier to just **not** be so…Agent Sharpe-like in that moment.

To throw caution to the wind to do what was right.

To act like a Legend. _Briefly._

Even now, months into their relationship, Sara frequently made her weak in the knees with just a look or a sly comment.

But, while she was very confident that she was Sara’s equal in combat and in their bedroom, her inability to understand contextual emotional or empathetic nuances meant she felt like she was always trying to play catch up with what was going on with her girlfriend.

She often struggled to anticipate what Sara was thinking or feeling, and it was difficult to avoid disagreements ahead of time or navigate rough patches in their relationship without her assuming that her lover was going to give up on her and leave.

Ava felt like their relationship was in a good place, though. She had asked Sara to move in with her, and the scattering of magical creatures was the only thing slowing that process down.

The Legends had to be in the field pretty much all the time now, which limited the couple’s time together to stolen moments between their mutually busy schedules.

Lately, however, Sara seemed distracted whenever she came to the Bureau, as if she were uncomfortable to be in the office and could not wait to get out of the D.C. location.

Ava had asked her about it several times, but Sara just smiled and dismissed the idea that she was behaving oddly. She would change the subject quickly.

The Director had brought it up again last night.

Sara had come to the Bureau to take her out for a date, and the moment they stepped out of her office, the captain tensed, as if she expected to be attacked physically.

Ava felt the muscles in the hand she was holding clench, to the point that it hurt a little. But it was gone as quickly as she felt it. She had looked at her girlfriend, confused, but Sara would not meet her eyes and pulled her out of there quickly. Ava had never seen her act that way.

She knew that something was up with her girlfriend, but Sara refused to talk about it. They had argued when they had gotten into the car. Instead of having a lovely evening out on a long-awaited date, Ava had returned to the apartment, and Sara had gone back to the Waverider – both alone.

Ava didn’t know how to fix things because while she knew something was wrong, if Sara wouldn’t talk to her, then she could not address whatever was going on.

Sara at least had other Legends to talk to, but Ava had no one.

She couldn’t just sit down with Nate or Gary to ask about Sara’s behavior. Yes, they were her friends, but Nate’s allegiance was still clearly to his Captain, and Gary was hopeless.

Without having parents or a real past replete with best friends, Ava was desperate for a support system, and while she had enjoyed her birthday evening with Mona and Nora, she didn’t feel comfortable pouring out her concerns to either of them at this point.

There was a knock on her door, and Ava told the interloper to come in, expecting it to be Gary.

Instead, agent Karen Mynatt pushed the door open and stepped into Ava’s office.

There were very few of her agents that Ava did not like, but Agent Mynatt was one of them, partially because she made Ava’s skin crawl. The woman loudly and proudly claimed to have slept her way to the top of the Bureau, including having been over and under the two previous directors.

When Ava had been assistant director, months before she even dreamed about meeting Sara, Mynatt had come on to her, enthusiastically. She had pushed her up against the wall of the elevator and tried to kiss her before Ava had flipped her, pinned her down, and threated to file an HR complaint against her. Mynatt had seemed to relish the assistant director’s manhandling of her and laughed the whole thing off.

But she repeatedly stepped into Ava’s personal space and made lewd comments to her or about her at every available opportunity.

Since Ava had become the Director, the comments had stopped – because Ava had calmly but firmly explained what would happen if they didn’t – but Mynatt still often violated her physical boundaries.

For example, most agents stopped immediately inside the door to relay whatever information they had to Ava. Agent Mynatt walked fully into the office and then came around to the side of the Director’s desk, leaning against it before she began to give Ava her most recent mission update.

Ava got up from her desk and walked over to prop open the door. She didn’t want to give any of her agents any reason to believe that Mynatt was somehow special or received unique treatment.

The Director’s rule was door open for everyone other than Nate, Gary, Hank, or Sara. Karen Mynatt knew this but clearly didn’t care. Ava didn’t give her a chance to say much before she was hustling her out the door. The less time spent with the agent the better.

As she stepped past the threshold, however, Mynatt turned and quickly hugged her. Ava recoiled immediately, firmly said “No,” and pushed the agent away. She chuckled and moved down the hall without looking back.

“That was weird.” Ava shook her head, wondering what the hell was up. None of the agents in the cubicles beyond her office would meet her eye, not even Gary.

She was sure the rumor mill would go wild about that hug, and for both professional and personal reasons, she decided she had, had enough.

Mynatt had crossed a line that as a relatively new Bureau Director, Ava simply could not tolerate.

The trip to Human Resources was swift. After speaking briefly with her HR Director, Liz Tracey, who informed Ava that she had, had more than a few complaints about Mynatt’s aggressive and disrespectful behavior, Ava, Liz, and a security detail headed to the agent’s office.

As they neared the area, Ava heard Sara’s voice, which surprised her.

While they had not left things on the best terms the evening before, she had received a loving text message from Sara this morning apologizing for the fight and asking to come over after Ava was finished at work. Ava had not immediately responded because she was still angry about Sara’s recent odd behavior and refusal to tell her what was going on. But truth be told, she was very much looking forward to seeing her lover later.

Hearing Sara’s voice made her realize how much she wanted to see her, so she quickened her pace and followed the voice, which surprisingly lead her directly to her original destination – Agent Mynatt’s office.

She gestured for security to swipe the group through the agent’s closed and locked door - another policy violation.

As she stepped through, she was stunned to see her lover’s face in the video chat session projected on the office wall, apparently laughing at something Karen had just said.

Agent Mynatt told Sara she’d see her later in their sparring session and ended the call.

She then looked up at Ava and her companions, as if she just noticed the group of people standing at her door.

“Can I help you with something, Director?” Mynatt innocently inquired.

Ava shook her head slightly, and Tracey took over the conversation.

“Agent Mynatt, you are hereby relieved of duty, pursuant to Section 4, Title 9, Paragraph 14 of Code 6C. You were given two warnings from my office and from Director Bennet regarding your sexual harassment of employees, yet your behavior has not improved. Director Sharpe has filed an additional complaint of harassment against you today, which - based on our policies for repeat offenders - places you on immediate suspension without pay for the next two weeks while we investigate the complaint. You will turn over your badge, your memory flash, and your time courier immediately, and you will be escorted from the building.”

Mynatt sat quietly in her chair the entire time the HR Director was speaking, looking bored and unsurprised to be having the conversation. When Tracey had finished, Mynatt wordlessly placed the items on the desk in front of her, seemingly without emotion, stood, and stepped toward the door, security flanking her.

Ava waited until the group had cleared the threshold and then she followed them, purposefully keeping pace in order to demonstrate that she fully supported Mynatt’s dismissal. She wanted the entire agency to witness her escorting Mynatt out of the Bureau. Ava had little doubt that the investigation would support her complaint and that she would finally be rid of the problematic agent.

She tried to keep her mind focused on the problem in front of her, but as they moved through the halls, Ava could not help but wonder why Sara and Mynatt had been speaking, much less planning a sparring session.

She knew Sara had been using the Bureau gym between missions for the past few months because it gave them a perfectly good excuse to spend time together as part of their respective jobs. She had encouraged Sara to work out even on those days that she couldn’t join her because it allowed the captain to vent her frustrations away from the Legends and the confines of the ship.

But Sara had told her that she hated being interrupted when agents came into the gym as she preferred to work out by herself or with Ava.

A few weeks ago, she abruptly stopped coming to the Bureau gym, the Bureau in general, unless Ava specifically asked her to come. When Ava asked her why the sudden change, Sara said that she had decided to train on the Waverider because it was more convenient.

Yet, based on the conversation Ava had just overheard, Sara had apparently been regularly sparring with Mynatt in workout sessions at the Bureau. Why would Sara have told her she didn’t want to use the Bureau gym anymore and then turn around and spar with Agent Mynatt, of all people?

As they reached the large lobby, Mynatt stopped walking, so the security entourage stopped as well.

She turned to face Ava with a glint in her eye.

“Please tell Sara I’m sorry I have to miss our session today. I do so love how hot and sweaty we get, but she’ll just have to settle for you I guess.”

Ava felt her face immediately turn red, and her mouth dropped open. Her fists clinched. _Did she just –_

“Oh, and I think this is probably yours,” Mynatt continued, digging something out of the bureau duffel she carried. “Sara loaned it to me a few weeks ago after mine ripped apart during…well…you can probably figure out how my buttons popped off. She told me she’d had to replace some of yours for the same reason.”

Robotically, Ava reached out for the white, button down Bureau-issued shirt Mynatt had extended to her, noting the AS sewn into the tag.

Her mind was blank. She couldn’t process what she was seeing and hearing.

Mynatt spun on her heel and walked into the elevator. As the doors closed, she looked at Ava with pity, shook her head, and laughed.

Ava heard the security guards move away, and after a few seconds, Liz Tracey quickly walked away as well. Ava was left standing in front of the elevators, holding what was clearly one of her own shirts, and trying to decipher the information she had just been presented with.

Her ears were buzzing.

Sara and….Mynatt?! Sara had slept with one of Ava’s own agents….in the Bureau gym...

She just…couldn’t believe it. Surely Mynatt was lying. Surely this was all a misunderstanding.

But the white shirt in her hand suggested otherwise.

Now, as she began to think about it, so did Sara’s behavior. Why else had her girlfriend been behaving in such a squirrely way whenever she was in the Bureau of late?

She pulled out her phone and quickly dialed, but she hung up before the call connected. She was not quite ready to talk to Sara.

One, she didn’t want to accept what her mind was telling her and two, she wanted to know for sure. She didn’t want to confront Sara unless she had proof beyond the disgraced agent’s word for it…not that her own shirt wasn’t compelling evidence on its own.

Ava walked back to her office, and the suddenly hushed voices as she walked past office after office told her that reports of Agent Mynatt’s comments to her had spread like wildfire.

Many people in the Bureau knew or at least suspected that she and Sara were involved romantically, no matter how much Ava tried to maintain professional boundaries at work. Those same people also knew the Captain’s reputation as a womanizer. Stories of Sara’s exploits through time were readily available, after all, to anyone with a security passcode.

Ava closed and locked her office door, pulled down the blinds, and slowly walked to her desk chair, where she sank.

A bit later, her cell phone dinged. She ignored it. She received several more text messages over the next few hours, but she ignored them all. Her email notifications created such a cacophony that she eventually shut off her computer speakers. She ignored Gary and later Nate knocking at her office door and calling out to her. She ignored the office phone ringing. She blocked all incoming video calls.

Ava sat staring at her screen in the dark, long after everyone else had gone home, but she wasn’t really looking at it.

She’d watched the gym’s security footage probably ten times. Every time showed her the same thing – Sara and Mynatt sparring, Sara taking Mynatt to the mat, Mynatt pulling Sara’s face down to passionately kiss her, and then a heavy-duty fucking session.

The image on the screen in front of her was unmistakable, not only in that it was Sara in the footage but also that her lover was fucking one of her agents in her own goddamn office gym.

It had not been hard to locate the proof.

Ava had cross-referenced the gym entry scans from Sara’s badge and Mynatt’s. According to the Bureau logs, the two women had sparred regularly and then abruptly stopped two weeks ago, right about the time Sara began behaving erratically. She had simply pulled up video footage of the last recorded session.

Her cell phone alerted again, and this time, Ava picked it up and threw it across the room. She ripped the cord for her desk phone out of the wall, stood, and tossed it against the wall opposite, sending plastic shards in every direction. She grabbed the monitor and flung it across the room as well. She couldn’t keep looking at that image of the love of her life fucking someone else.

Then she collapsed back into her office chair, loud sobs wracking her body.

“I didn’t do it.”

Ava immediately stilled.

Her lover’s soft voice continued from the darkness of her office.

“I mean, that’s obviously me in that footage, Ava, but I did not cheat on you. With that agent. With anyone.”

Ava just shook her head, tears continuing to stream down her face. Sara was admitting that she was in the video. How could she claim that what Ava had watched was not cheating?

“Just go.” Ava hoarsely whispered.

“No.” Sara’s voice was quiet, but firm.

Silence loomed for several minutes.

“Ava—”

“Sara, I know what I saw. She gave me back the shirt you let her borrow. My shirt. In front of an entire security detail and my director of HR. In my lobby. I can’t believe—”

“Then _don’t_ believe it, Ava. I did _not_ do this. I am not sure how it was done, but that security footage is a lie.” Sara’s voice persisted, calm and sure, but she remained in the shadows of Ava’s office.

Ava shook her head again.

“How could you do this to me?” she whispered, heartbroken.

She heard a slight movement from her right side, as Sara knelt down into her line of sight, near her but still not quite close enough to touch her.

“Ava, I love you. All I ask is that you let me prove myself. I am _not_ lying to you. I did _not_ cheat on you.”

Ava closed her eyes and pulled further into the desk chair, arms wrapped tightly around herself.

Her girlfriend sounded so sincere, but all those petty jealousies and insecurities reared their head. Sara could have anyone; why would she want Ava? The Director could not give her relationship the time and attention it needed. Sara deserved so much better than her. So how could she be surprised that Sara might turn to someone else for attention?

The quiet voice from the woman kneeling beside her came again.

“Ava, do you remember the first morning we woke up together?”

Silence…

Of course, Ava remembered. It had been one of the best mornings of her life.

“You thought I was still asleep, and you murmured something against my skin, as your head rested on my chest.”

Ava gasped softly but said nothing, shaking her head, as if to rid herself of the memory that was now so very painful in this context.

“You said ‘Mine’.” Sara paused, waiting, hoping for a response.

None came.

“Ava, my heart and soul have been yours for a long time. My body has been yours, and yours alone, since the first time you kissed me.”

Ava listened, trying to reconcile what she was hearing with what she had seen.

“I am yours. Wholly. Completely. I am so crazy in love with you. For the first time in my life, I see a tomorrow with someone, someone with whom I want to share all of my tomorrows.”

Ava felt tentative hands gently rest on her knees.

“Why would I risk that?” Ava heard, suddenly, the churning, barely controlled emotion in Sara’s voice, as her voice cracked asking this question.

“Don’t you see? You make it so easy for me to love you.” Sara sighed.

“Why would I do anything that pushed you away from me again after we have saved each other in so many ways? _You_ are my love, Ava.”

At that, she lifted her head and finally looked up at her lover.

Sara, silent tears dripping down her own face, reached up to cup her cheek, paused as if unsure, and then continued her movement, as if Ava were as fragile as glass. As if Sara were afraid to touch her.

She looked right into her eyes – “Ava, I love you. You are mine, and I am yours…”

Without even being conscious of it, Ava’s hand moved and closed over the hand on her knee. She slid out of the chair onto the floor next to her lover and pulled Sara into her arms. She wrapped her arms and legs around her as if her life depended on never letting her girlfriend go.

She felt, more than heard, Sara’s release of her own heightened emotions. They sat wrapped around each other, breathing in the love between them, holding on to the only Truth either one of them really knew how to believe in – that what they shared was a bond stronger than the darkness that tempted Sara and the insecurity that sometimes plagued Ava.

Ava had no idea how long they sat there, wrapped together. She truly did not care, even when her legs started going to sleep.

She had been devastated, so afraid that she had lost everything. So angry. So hurt.

But Sara was here, in her arms, asking her to trust her own heart and not her own eyes.

So she did. Improbably.

Ava let out a very long breath.

They would figure this all out. At the end of the day, the only thing that mattered was the woman in her arms on the floor of her office holding onto her for dear life.


	2. Chapter 2

_Two weeks earlier_

Sara enjoyed working out at the Bureau gym. They had the latest equipment and technology that allowed her to do her workout efficiently.

She most enjoyed those days when Ava worked out beside her or when they were able to spar together in the dojo, but Sara understood that Ava was basically on call 24/7. She was the CEO of a large government bureaucracy, after all. Sara’s own job was just as demanding, so she took any time with the Director that she could get.

The Legends had recently wrapped up a case in the Big Easy, and Sara had been surprised that Ava had made the time to go on the mission with them. She’d been even more surprised to learn of her girlfriend’s secret obsession with serial killers. Tracking down Mike the Spike had revealed a whole different side to Ava.

Though they had been together for a while, Sara loved discovering these new facets of her girlfriend.

She knew Ava sometimes still struggled with the whole clone/false memories thing, and they both struggled with the sometimes-lengthy separations from each other. But they were making it work.

Sara could not believe how happy she was. It honestly frightened her a bit because any happiness she had, had was always short lived. Former assassins just didn’t get to live long, comfy lives.

But she had decided to take the risk anyway because Ava was wonderful, even if the Director herself didn’t always believe that.

Sara finished wrapping her hands up and programmed the sparring program for a twenty-minute session, just enough time for her to work out some kinks and warm up.

She stepped into the dojo and was unsurprised to see someone else already inside. For several weeks now, the tall, stocky, brunette agent miraculously just happened to be working out at the same time, every time as Sara.

The Captain found it a bit stalkerish, but Nate had assured her that the agent…what was her name again… _Agent_ _Mynatt_ was a wannabe, known for her supposed prowess in the bedroom. She was someone who posed no threat to Sara, or to Ava for that matter. Gary had mentioned to Nate in passing that Mynatt had asked Ava out several times early in the Director’s career but struck out spectacularly. Nate assured her that the general opinion of Mynatt was one of pity at her obliviousness to how pathetic most of the Bureau believed her to be, no matter how attractive she was.

So, Sara did what she always did when she noted the agent’s presence - she completely ignored her and went about her business.

In the midst of her session, Sara noticed that Agent Mynatt moved over to lean against the wall nearest to her position and started overtly watching her.

With one eye on her virtual sparring opponent, Sara watched the woman watching her. Several emotions played across Mynatt’s face as Sara repeatedly beat the shit out of the program - envy, appreciation, respect, lust, and…was that anger?

Sara had no idea why the agent would be mad at her, as she was just minding her own damn business. But the set jawline and clenched fists she noted, along with the tightness in the woman’s stance definitely set off warning bells.

She delivered yet another roundhouse kick to the AI and had repositioned herself, waiting for the program to come back at her when Mynatt abruptly pushed off the wall.

“Computer, end program.” The virtual opponent immediately disappeared at Sara’s command, and she rested, light on the balls of her feet, wondering what Mynatt was up to.

“Wanna try those weak ass moves with a real opponent?” The agent seemed to sneer at her.

“I’m sorry. Do we know each other?” Sara smiled, dangerous, a warning to anyone smart enough to pay attention.

“No, but you’ve taken something that doesn’t belong to you.” Mynatt began circling her, like a caged animal looking for an opportunity to strike.

Sara chuckled, low, menacingly.

“Do you know what you are doing, little girl? Do you know who I am?”

Voice filled with disdain, Mynatt retorted, “I know what you are. You’re filth. You are a woman who kills for sport. You are a joke who surrounds herself with idiots.”

Sara smiled again, but her eyes had gone mercilessly flat. Cold.

“I’m gonna ask again. Do you know what you are doing, agent?”

She knew that some in the Bureau still shared Mynatt’s assessment of her. Rip had originally recruited a bunch of losers who didn’t matter, who were expendable in the grand scheme of things. Sara was, in fact, a former assassin who led a team of screw ups, yet they always managed to save the day eventually.

What she didn’t know was why this particular agent was suddenly suicidal.

Mynatt continued to circle her, and Sara just waited, slowed her breathing and centered herself.

“I’m taking out the trash.”

Mynatt lunged, and Sara simply danced out of the way.

The agent quickly recovered and came flying back at Sara.

The Captain recognized the martial form and immediately adjusted her own. Mynatt may be trying to hurt her, hurt her badly apparently, but Sara had no desire to seriously injure the agent. She kept imagining the paperwork that would cause for Ava.

She blocked and deflected blow after blow, landing a few, quick, hard strikes of her own just to remind Mynatt what she was capable of.

Sara figured maybe the agent needed to let off steam, and she was just a convenient target.

Well, she _had_ wanted a warmup.

Mynatt’s form became sloppier as her frustration got the better of her. She might be a highly trained agent, but Mynatt hadn’t landed a single blow after ten minutes of sustained attack and Sara wasn’t even breathing hard.

The agent adjusted her strategy and began taunting Sara between attempted strikes.

“You aren’t worthy of her, you know.” Sara paused slightly, just enough for Mynatt’s punch to brush by her cheek.

Sara’s eyed narrowed. So, this was about _Ava_. Oh **hell** no.

Her own anger began to simmer. Contrary to Mynatt’s anger, which was a weakness, Sara’s anger made her lethal.

“She’s too good for you.” Mynatt jabbed at her between punches.

On Mynatt’s next pass at her, Sara didn’t pull her responding blows. In quick succession, the agent’s nose was broken and bleeding, and she was flying across the room, courtesy of a kick to the midsection.

Sara snickered cruelly. “That’s gonna leave a mark, agent.”

Mynatt pushed herself off the floor and moved back toward Sara, wiping the blood from her mouth. The Captain gestured for her to bring it, and the agent charged.

Sara grabbed the woman, using the momentum to pick her up easily despite their size difference, and slammed her to the mat.

“We’re done here.” Sara’s forearm pushed slowly, carefully down against the agent’s windpipe. Just enough for Mynatt to recognize how much control it took for her to maintain the exact amount of pressure to hold her there but not seriously hurt her.

When Sara saw the fear finally register in Mynatt’s eyes, she relented and leaned back slightly with a sigh. It was over.

Without warning, Mynatt grabbed her face and pulled her into a kiss. Sara quickly shoved her down, punched her, thought better of it, and with one motion, picked the woman up over her head and tossed her across the dojo like Mynatt was a rag doll.

“Do not ever come near me again, agent. Or I will put you down. Permanently.” Sara turned her back on the crumpled, unmoving woman and walked to her gym bag to towel off.

“One day she’ll see you for who and what you truly are. Then, you’ll lose her forever.” Sara’s back stiffened.

That blow hit home.

She grabbed her bag and left the bureau, not even stopping by Ava’s office as she usually did when she finished a workout.

Sara fled to the comfort of their bedroom on the Waverider, where she spent the next few hours meditating and clearing her mind.

Ava loved her, and she loved Ava. There were always going to be people who didn’t think one or the other was good enough, but all that mattered is what they knew to be true – they balanced each other and made each other incredibly happy.

She took the opportunity over lunch to share what had happened with Zari and Charlie. Both were angry and murderously protective of both her and Ava.

But as they talked, they all agreed that Sara should not tell Ava what happened, as it would only put the Director in an incredibly awkward situation. Better to just let the whole thing go, as knowing now that Sara had thoroughly kicked her ass, Agent Mynatt would wisely walk away.

Once Sara left the galley, however, Zari quickly filled Nate in on what had happened. Someone at the Bureau had to watch that bitch and watch the couple’s back.


	3. Chapter 3

_One month later_

Karen Mynatt strolled down K Street in D.C., whistling her way back toward the Bureau without a care in the world.

She’d spent the last two weeks on a Caribbean beach, surrounded by beautiful women catering to her every need. She was tan, relaxed, and flush.

True to his word, her mysterious, handsome, sharply dressed benefactor had deposited a substantial sum of money into her bank account the day she got herself suspended from the Bureau.

That money was in addition to the hefty down payment he had given her at the outset of this little side mission.

He hadn’t explained exactly why, but Neron had told her that it was in the Bureau’s best interest, in the interest of national security, even, that Director Sharpe be separated by whatever means necessary from her relationship with that washed out assassin Captain Lance.

Given that Mynatt had the hots for Ava herself and given that she had witnessed Sharpe softening to a ridiculous degree over the past year -- a betrayal of the Bureau in Mynatt’s mind -- she had readily agreed to the plan.

But, after the two-week vacation/suspension, she was ready to get back to work. Chicks digged the super agent thing, after all, and Mynatt loved the thrill of being in the service.

Neron had promised that Hank would make sure she kept her job, regardless of HR policy and procedures. She was involved with their little black ops side project, and she believed they had come to depend on her.

Mynatt was happy to help the cause and to eliminate these dangerous magical creatures from their world. They were a vile contamination.

Humans first, humans _always_.

She rode the elevator up, still lazily humming to herself. She knew it would be awkward for a few days with the other agents, but she hoped they understood that she was doing what was best for the Bureau.

Director Sharpe needed to be taken down a peg.

As she stepped into the lobby, it was oddly quiet for a Monday morning. There was a distinct lack of activity, as Mynatt didn’t see any other agents bustling about. She checked her watch – 9 a.m. on the dot.

_Where is everyone?_

The security station immediately adjacent to the elevator bank was vacant, the screens behind turned off. That certainly gave the agent pause.

She stood, confused. She was in the right building at the beginning of a regular work week and the offices were silent and empty.

She then heard a distant clicking, getting louder and moving toward her with paced, measured staccato.

Mynatt moved instinctively toward the sound but stopped abruptly as Director Sharpe turned the corner and walked toward her with purpose.

She should have expected this. Of course she would have a welcoming party. She needed to be reinstated and have her equipment returned to her. She was a bit surprised, however, that, that party was Ava.

Apparently…Ava alone.

No HR, no security, no other agents.

Ava wore the standard blue-black suit of the Bureau and sturdy black shoes with her hair pulled back tightly into a smart bun. It had been a while since Mynatt had seen her present herself in this fashion.

Lately, Ava had been leaving her hair down, had left her shirt top button and collar undone and open, had smiled and laughed with her agents. The person walking toward her was not that woman any longer.

Director Sharpe was fully reestablished. There was no kindness, no emotion, no concern in Sharpe’s eyes.

 _Good_. That meant the director had rid herself of that fucking loser calling herself a Legend. This woman walking toward her was all business and no nonsense.

It was about damn time.

Agent Mynatt stood at attention, waiting. She wasn’t sure exactly how this particular conversation would go, regardless of Neron’s assurances that all was well with her planned return.

Hands clasped behind her back, Ava walked directly at her and didn’t stop until she was uncomfortably in the agent’s personal space.

They were equally tall, so Ava was one of the few women who could stare directly into her eyes and stand toe to toe with her, which was clearly what Director Sharpe was choosing to do. The accompanying glare was unsettling.

Mynatt glared back and lifted her chin in a slight challenge. She had nothing to be ashamed of, as she had followed orders. It was Ava who should be apologizing to her, to the entire Bureau even. It was Ava who had taken her eye off the ball and lost her way, forgotten her priorities. Karen had simply done what was necessary to get the Director back on mission.

“Miss Mynatt.” There was no inflection in Sharpe’s voice, no hint of what she was thinking.

“Yes, ma’am. Agent Mynatt reporting for duty.” Karen was a lot of things, but she was no coward. She’d take whatever Sharpe could dish out.

“Ah. Is that why you have come back here?” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “We had a running bet that you’d just stay on that beach in St. Croix. I’m happier than you can possibly imagine that I won that bet.”

The director’s hard stare was unwavering.

“Ma’am?” Mynatt’s heartbeat picked up for some reason, and her mouth was suddenly very dry.

Ava stepped even further into her space, so close that the fabric on their matching stark white shirts brushed.

“Oh please, Karen. I think we are long past any need for the charade that you respect me or my position.”

Mynatt opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say anything, her arm was painfully and cruelly twisted behind her. She fell to one knee, unable to breathe, much less move.

Ava looked down at her, a small, sad smile passing quickly before she glanced up at Mynatt’s silent attacker.

Director Sharpe’s face completely transformed. Mynatt knew that look. It was a look of utterly ridiculous, pure, unadulterated love. Of joy. Of peace. Of being whole.

And that look on Ava’s face terrified her because it told her exactly who was behind her, pinning her to the ground.

“Babe?” The low voice confirmed her fears.

Ava sighed. “Just cuff her. We’ll let the DCPD sort this out.”

Mynatt struggled, but there was no way she could escape Sara’s hold.

Her hands were brought together roughly; a zip tie immediately and tightly followed. She was pushed face down onto the ground. And left to her own devices.

When she rolled over, the two women stood over her but faced each other. Each only had eyes for the other.

Mynatt realized that she had simply ceased to exist for them.

She was enraged.

After everything she had sacrificed and risked for the Time Bureau, for the fucking country, _this_ is how her career would end? Because of a murderous psychopath and a fucking anachronistic clone in love?

Mynatt rolled to her feet. She was **not** going to go out this way. She refused to sit in a Bureau cell for the rest of her life. She was a goddamn patriot, a hero, and she would go out like one.

She attacked the seemingly unaware couple, but they simply stepped out of the way as one, unconcerned. Her headlong charge sent her sprawling across the tile floor. She yelled, filled with hatred, and pushed back up, facing them both.

She knew she had absolutely no chance against them, but she’d rather them kill her than what she faced with the consequences awaiting her – judgement, ridicule, imprisonment.

Mynatt realized Neron had lied, that he had used her. She never would get her job back, never rejoin the men in black trying to save humanity.

She was simply his pawn.

But she was a pawn who was going to get a little payback before she met her end.

Ava glanced at Sara, who pulled out a small blade. “I think this is the second bet you’ve lost in a row, Lance.”

Sara smiled and elbowed the director, lightly.

“Don’t gloat.”

Mynatt prepared for the assassin to get on with it, to attack her with the dagger.

* “Get the cuffs off her. I want this to be a fair fight.” Ava’s voice, emotionless and deadly soft in that moment, was the most chilling thing Mynatt had ever heard.

Sara ran at her, but at the last moment, the Legend jumped, twisted in mid-air, and flipped over the rogue agent’s head. Before she could register what had happened, her hands were freed, and the zip tie fell to the floor.

Mynatt spun to attack Sara, punching awkwardly into thin air.

The Captain stood several feet away, just smiling at her, arms crossed. She shook a finger at Mynatt.

“Nuh uh.” Sara singsongingly said. “Not me this time.”

Before Mynatt could register what that might mean, a hard kick to her ribs sent her tumbling across the lobby.

She scrambled to her feet just in time to watch Sharpe calmly unbutton her suit coat and a smirk appear on the director’s face.

Ava wordlessly extended her white baton and tossed it in Mynatt’s direction. The metal clattered to the floor next to her, loudly clanging through the still Bureau halls.

Now Mynatt had a choice to make.

Her hands were free.

She was a talented, well-trained martial artist.

She had a weapon within reach.

Her mind screamed at her that this was some kind of trap. That her facing off against a League of Assassin’s alumna and Rip Hunter’s personal pet prima donna was suicide.

But Mynatt decided it really didn’t matter. She would go out fighting.

She reached down for the Director’s baton.

Ava shook her head, honestly surprised that Mynatt was this stupid. She looked to her partner, who with a knowing smile tossed her Sara’s own bo staff, which the Director quickly separated into its two parts.

She twisted her wrists a few times, adjusting to the weight of the batons in her hands. She moved her head side to side, slowly - a bit menacingly - to stretch out her neck muscles. She had given the agent every chance to surrender peacefully, but just as she had expected and Sara had secretly hoped, Mynatt refused to surrender when given the choice to fight or flee or accept her fate.

Ava intentionally shut off every thought, every fear, every emotion from the roller coaster they’d been on as they had discovered the full extent of Mynatt’s planning and treachery.

It had been a good plan to break them up, as it hit at both of their insecurities.

But Mynatt had made two mistakes – she underestimated how much they loved each other, and she underestimated Zari Tomaz, who within just a few hours of the rogue agent’s suspension had uncovered the scheme and had shown them, and then the entire team including Gary, the undoctored footage.

Mynatt had used hacked video of the two of them sparring after hours, which that one time – to Ava’s later mortification - had led to some intense extra-curricular activity, and weaved it together with the footage of her attack on Sara in the same space to create an extremely believable and nearly flawless presentation of the captain supposedly cheating.

She had also rightly anticipated that Sara would not tell Ava about their little dojo encounter in order to protect the Director and the Bureau.

Then, Mynatt had stolen archival footage from the Waverider’s jumpship and had played slightly altered portions of it back on her video projector, perfectly timed for the Director’s arrival into her office.

Stealing one of Ava’s monogrammed shirts had been child’s play in comparison to the digital tactics as Ava kept an extra set of her Bureau uniform clothes in her locker.

It had been a good plan, one that the couple assumed involved more than one person.

But it had not worked.

Now Mynatt was choosing to face the music.

Ava took one deep, centering breath, and then stepped toward her former employee. She was more than ready for this.

  


Sara leaned back against the nearest wall to watch. Mynatt had no idea what she had gotten herself into, and the Legend was ready for a good laugh at the rogue agent’s expense. She had little doubt that Ava was going to channel her pain, her rage, her doubt, and her fears into every single baton stroke against that little brunette head.

As Ava pummeled the rogue agent - striking, punching, kicking, and throwing the woman around the Bureau lobby like a stuffed animal - Sara wondered at what point she should intervene.

She found it very tough to do so, though, when her girlfriend looked so _fucking hot_ in a fight. It was rare that Sara could sit and watch Ava work because they were usually having to fight side by side for their survival.

This, however, was a chance for her to watch her lover just straight up kick someone’s ass.

And it was absolutely _**glorious**_.

After a while, Nate and Z came and leaned against the wall on either side of her.

“You gonna stop this?” Z asked her, after watching the enjoyable - for one side of it - melee play out in front of them for a few minutes..

Sara shrugged. “Eh. Eventually.”

She trusted Ava to know her limits. Mostly.

“Captain?” Nate queried. Sara turned to him, eyebrow raised. “Mrs. Captain is a badass.”

She grinned broadly. “Oh, _I know_ …. but don’t let her hear you call her that.”

She stepped away from the wall and twisted her finger once in the air, giving Gary the signal to wrap it up.

Immediately, there was motion and sound from every corner. The lobby filled with Bureau agents and police officers pouring in from all directions.

Ava simply turned mid-strike and stepped away from the bloodied rogue agent, who was now surrounded by DCPD and Bureau agents with guns drawn. She walked over and picked up her baton and Sara’s bo staff. The fight had been much more therapeutic once she had separated Mynatt from the weapon and had been able to use her own fists, elbows, knees, etc. instead. She glanced back as the former agent was hauled to her feet and read her rights. What a waste.

Mynatt would certainly survive her injuries. Ava had not been trying to kill her, just make her live with pain for a really, _really_ long time.

The Director scanned the room and quickly found what, or rather who, she was looking for.

Standing in the middle of a laughing, celebrating group of slightly insane, lovable losers, Sara Lance looked relieved and happy.

It wasn’t long before their eyes met.

Sara tilted her head in inquiry.

Ava mouthed one word: “Mine.”

Sara blushed slightly and nodded once, smiling that little crooked grin reserved for Ava alone.

She stepped away from her team, pushed through the crowd of agents and bureaucrats, and reached for Ava’s slightly bruised hand.

“Let’s go home, babe.”

And home they went. Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * This line comes from Parks and Recreation and was delivered by Lucy Lawless’ character. Gotta give credit where credit is due. 🙂


End file.
